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landarc

somebody shut me the fark up.
Joined
Jun 26, 2009
Location
sAn leAnDRo, CA
Guest starring dried chiles from Brisket Bob, including Chilhaucle Negro pods, selected out by Bob. Great stuff



It seemed like a good time to throw together some chili. It is allegedly winter, which is chili time, so I fired up the kettle and threw a chuck roast in there. I opted to use a commercial rub, actually being involved in working, a pre-made rub was just too simple. I used Ted and Barney's Rub, a product from Humboldt County, which is very similar to a Santa Maria rub, salt and pepper heavy. The chuck was smoked over a pecan and charcoal fire, at 225°F for two hours and 300°F in foil for 1.5 hours. This lead the chuck to be just a little underdone, perfect for the use as chili meat.

Smoked Chuck

The meat was removed, placed in an ice chest, while still wrapped and allowed to cool to 150°F then chilled. In the end, I ended up with about 3/4 cup of rendered collagen along with a nearly tender chuck roast. This was all saved for the next morning.

On the day of the cook, some Pinquito beans from Rancho Gordo were procured, and yes, these are worth the hassle of finding. I think that Rancho Gordo is producing the best dried bean product widely available, and they just cook up a whole lot better. The beans were sorted, cleaned, washed then tossed into a pot, with twice as much water and beans, by volume, I also tossed 3 short ribs, for additional flavor. It was brought to a boil, held there for 5 minutes, then reduced to a simmer, covered, for 1 hour. I then salted the beans and simmered until soft. Total time, just around 2 hours.

At the same time, we ground up three types of dried chile, one being Chilhaucle Negro, a rare dried chile commonly associated in it's native region of Mexico, with dark mole sauces. We also had some dried jalapeno and dried New Mexico type chiles. I added some chile powder to round out the heat component. We used a total of 6 tablespoons of this chile powder seasoning.

Two large yellow onions, 3 carrots and 6 cloves of garlic were chopped, and sautéed with 1/3 of the chile powder seasoning. These were sautéed until the onions became translucent.

Second addition of powder

Some chorizo was added at this point, about 1.5 pounds of sausage was removed from casings and added to the aromatics, along with another 1/3 of the chile powder seasoning. This was sautéed until the sausage was cooked through, then the smoked chuck was added, along with a large can of crushed tomatoes, and the final 1/3 of the chile powder seasoning. This was then cooked, and the seasonings adjusted with a little saly, pepper and sugar. This ended up taking about 2 hours, so the beans were added and everything was allowed to simmer for another 30 minutes. We used the bean water to adjust thickness. At this time, some fresh toasted cumin was ground and added, as was oregano. Roughly 2 tablespoons of each. More salt to pop the flavors.

Ready to Serve

Note, that there are two large Dutch ovens worth here. This chili was rich and flavorful with a nice slow burn that develops throughout the mouth and just a little at the top of the throat. The smoke flavor of the chuck, which adds both aroma and flavor is a nice complement to the chili. Yes, there are beans and tomato, but, this was an outstanding bowl of red.
 
looks good but i have to agree with sliding billy . Loose the round things
It's a funny thing. When I cook for myself, I cook chili with no beans or tomatoes. That is my preference. Not how I grew up, well, my mom did various things, and there was a strong Mexican influence where we lived. Still, normally, no beans or tomatoes now. But, when I cook for others, if I know they prefer beans, I will add them. Most everyone out here, consider beans and tomatoes necessary to be in chili, so that is how I roll.
 
Another difference, is I never thicken my chili, ever. Cooking for myself, the chili is only thickened by reduction over heat. I never add any flour, starch or masa harina, that is stew, not chili. But, for others, it is what I know will please them the most.
 
Great looking chili Bob. IMO, chili without beans and tomatoes is just a bowl of flavored meat.... :p
Well, that is sort of what chili is supposed to be, then you serve it with something on the side. But, whatever floats folks boat. It's just food.

I do heartily recommend the Rancho Gordo beans, a truly great food product and cheap as gourmet stuff goes. Their website is outstanding as a reference as well.
 
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